Saturday, September 09, 2017

Part of the annual San Francisco celebration of all things Japanese, the J-Pop Summit is the Ramen Summit. There are five different ramen shops offering a different style of ramen. This year I tried each of the bowls. And so can you! Tickets are still available for Sunday September 10, 2017 for the J-Pop Summit and the Ramen Summit is located outside the entrance. Each bowl is $8, and definitely large enough to share. Here's my take on each bowl featured this year.

This Hakata style ramen is one of my current favorites. I really love the creamy texture of their tonkotsu and their ultra thin noodles which still manage to remain al dente. It’s made under the guidance of Kaz Tsutsumi, who has been a ramen chef for 11 years.

Marufuku has a shop in Japantown in the old Sapporo-Ya space. I wrote about it for Tasting Table, it was one of my picks for cheap eats. Their noodles are custom made by Yamachan.

Yoroshiku is a ramen shop in Seattle, Washington and serves 150-200 customers a day. The ramen they served is Sapporo style, from the North of Japan.

It’s made with a blend of red and white miso. It’s sweet and spicy, not too salty and comes with fresh corn, scallions and bamboo shoots. I liked it very much. Their noodles are custom made by Yamachan.

The ramen at Orenchi Beyond is tonkotsu style but “beyond.” What does that mean exactly? A

boosted flavor thanks to garlic, fish powder and shoyu.

Their classic style is shio and is served in Santa Clara. But in San Francisco, it's an over the top style ramen that's the signature bowl. The noodles are the thickest I've ever seen, almost like linguine. I liked the topping of mizuna and crunchy garlic chips. Their noodles are custom made by Yamachan.

A year and a half ago this ramen company with 200 shops in Japan came to San Francisco. Their specialty is chicken ramen. In Japan they have their own farm, but here they source the chicken locally.

The ramen has a tender chicken meatball, chunks of bamboo and a tangy yuzu garnish that complements the ramen, but I found the ramen a bit too salty for my liking. Their noodles are custom made by Sun Noodles.

Wednesday, September 06, 2017

The number eight is considered lucky in Chinese culture, and the more eights the luckier. This year represents the 8th anniversary of LUCKYRICE, an Asian food festival and it’s being held on September 8, 2017, general admission tickets are $88. That's a whole lot of luck!

While this may be the 8th year, it’s also in one way the first. It’s the first year of a plant based edition feast. This is noteworthy because if you go to chef gala events you see a lot of the same kinds of dishes and they aren’t plant based. Tuna tartare is popular, a seared scallop, perhaps something with pork belly or foie gras will make an appearance. But as dining evolves so too do these events. In San Francisco some of the finest restaurants are focusing more on vegetables than ever before. I spoke with LUCKYRICE founder, Danielle Chang to learn more about the event and the second season of her PBS show, Lucky Chow.

How many galas and "feasts" have you produced?
In the eight lucky years that I’ve been at the helm of LUCKYRICE, we’ve produced over 100 curated events that spotlight Asian culture through the lens of food and drink.

Why did you decide to do a plant based theme and why in San Francisco?
I think when people think “Asian food” they’re still thinking mystery brown sauce, rice and packaged ramen noodles. I wanted to really spotlight Asian cuisine in an entirely unique way with this plant-based menu so people could really experience and taste the evolution of Asian cuisine in America and embrace its green potential, it’s come a long way! No General Tso’s chicken here.

What dishes and ingredients are you particularly excited to see showcased at the event?
With a fabulous line-up like this one, I think it’s hard to pick just one but I’ve definitely got my eye on the Pinakbet Onigiri with Stuffed Garlic Fried Rice Ball with Kabocha Squash, Green beans, Eggplant, Okra, Vegan Bagoong, Nori seaweed from Buffalo Theory in collaboration with Alchemy

How did this season of Lucky Chow and your visits to farms in particular influence you and your future plans?
Since so much of the Asian-American immigrant experience is rooted in the soil of Bay Area farms, it makes sense to pay homage to that history while celebrating the new culinary expressions being created by the younger generation. And, while filming season 2 of my PBS show Lucky Chow, I was so inspired by the featured local farmers, like Kristyn Leach of Namu and Ross Koda of Koda Farms. They, like so many other Bay Area residents, are committed to seasonality, locality, and innovation in sustainability.

Does Asian food fit into the "vegetable centric" trend in dining?
From mizuna to bok choy, people will walk into an Asian grocery store and run the other way when they’re confronted with the different varieties of Asian greens and vegetables because they’re intimidated, begging the questions, “what do I do with this?” or “how do I cook that?” There’s still a lot of unharnessed potential when it comes to Asian cooking fitting into a “veggie centric” motif. I think we can only expect to see more and more chefs and restaurateurs seeking out Asian vegetables as they’re expanding their flavor palates and looking for something “new.”

Thanks Danielle!

Here's the full line up of tantalizing dishes from some really outstanding restaurants:

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

There are certain dishes that no matter how many times I make them, I’m always looking for a better recipe. Macaroni and cheese is one of them. You know a good macaroni and cheese when you taste it. For me, it’s rich but not oily, gooey with melted cheese and with no graininess to the sauce. It’s also got a little sharp edge to it. I usually start with a bechamel, but I’ve never been convinced that it’s the perfect sauce base.

I eat a lot of cauliflower and I’m by no means the first to discover that pureed it can stand in for all kinds of creamy sauces. For this recipe I was inspired by two recipes, one from Mark Bittman and another from Michelle Obama. Yup. Michelle Obama. It’s a recipe that is floating around the internet but I really couldn’t find very many comments from readers who had tried it, so I just went for it. The whole grain pasta and cauliflower addition make this a healthier recipe than some, but I still wouldn't call it healthy.

My version of this recipe differs a bit from the Bittman recipe in that I use more cheese and a bit of milk. It differs from the Obama recipe in that I use macaroni, not penne and I used a bit less milk. Lots of recipes use different styles of pasta, but there is a reason why this dish is called "macaroni and cheese" it's because macaroni really is the best shape for it. I also flavored my mac and cheese with dry mustard and roasted Hatch chiles. This year for the first time I used mild chiles. My recommendation? Combine a little bit of hot or medium hot chiles with some mild ones to get plenty of chile flavor and just a hint of heat. This recipe is infinitely adaptable, skip the chiles, add more, or use whatever chiles you like best.

Note: If you prefer a mac and cheese with a baked cheesy or crusty top, feel free to add one! I’m generally too lazy to bother.

Cauliflower Hatch Chile Macaroni & Cheese

Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients

1 pound whole wheat macaroni

1 pound cauliower, about 1/2 large head
1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon dry mustard, or more to taste

1 pound shredded melting cheese (I used a combination of jack and cheddar)

1 1/2 cups diced roasted peeled and seeded Hatch chiles, or more to taste (hot, medium, mild or a combination)

Instructions

Bring salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until al dente then drain and set aside. In the meantime, boil or steam the cauliflower. When tender transfer the cauliflower to a blender along with the milk and dry mustard and puree.

Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Pour in the cauliflower puree, cheese and chiles and stir until the cheese is completely melted. Taste and add more mustard or chiles if desired. Serve immediately

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: My thanks to Mollie Stone's Markets and Melissa’s produce for giving me a 5 pound carton of roasted chiles. If you live in the Bay Area there’s still several more dates during 2017 to attend a chile roast and stock up.

Thursday, August 24, 2017

When I was growing up one of my favorite dishes was veal parmigiana. I adored the tender scallops of veal, breaded and fried then coated with tomato sauce and topped with gooey mozzarella. It wasn’t an everyday meal by any means, but I do remember requesting it for my birthday. These days when you hear the word veal it unfortunately brings to mind “veal crates.” Veal has become the poster child for the inhumane treatment of animals. But the truth is, individual confining veal pens are outlawed in many states and are being phased out altogether.

By the end of this year, veal crates will become a thing of the past. But that’s just the beginning of the misperceptions about veal. According to the American Veal Association, 100% of US veal farms are family owned, most are also family run and very small scale. No growth hormones are used and the animal's tails are not docked, their horns are not removed. Recently I met with Julie Rossotti of Rossotti Ranch. Julie comes from a Swiss dairy farming family in West Marin, but she raises animals for meat including veal. Her animals are pasture raised, never separated from their mothers. They are fed only on grass and their mother’s milk. Veal is also not “baby cows.” Animals are harvested at 6 months, the exact same age as pigs for pork. By comparison, chickens are harvested at just 3 weeks.

In addition to the tender texture and mild yet delicious flavor, there are other reasons to consider eating it. Grass fed veal is a revelation, it's tender and flavorful. Veal from pasture raised animals is better for the environment than beef, because the animals keep native grasses in check, naturally fertilize the land and produce less methane than larger older animals. They also use fewer resources like water and grain. Veal is healthier than beef; it has less fat, and is an even better source of some nutrients like protein, riboflavin, niacin, vitamins, and B-6. It’s also a good source of niacin and iron.

Note: I talked to Julie about the classic mixture of beef, pork and veal in meatballs. She told me about her recipe for meatballs made with veal and I was intrigued. I adapted her recipe a bit using some cream of rice cereal in place of some of the bread crumbs and for seasoning I used pesto. The meatballs were incredibly tender and it took barely any time to cook them. Best of all? They were even better the second day. Serve them with mashed potatoes (or cauliflower) or pasta.

Pesto Veal Meatballs, adapted from a recipe by Julie Rossotti

Makes 4 servings, about 24 meatballs

1 pound ground veal

1/3 cup panko bread crumbs

1/3 cup cream of rice dry cereal

1/4 cup milk

1 egg

1/4 cup pesto

Additional pesto for serving

Heat oven to 400 F. Combine the veal, bread crumbs, cream of rice, milk, egg and pesto in a bowl and gently combine with your hands. Using a tablespoon scoop the mixture into small balls and place in a greased foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Serve with additional pesto.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: My thanks for Rossotti Ranch for providing me with veal for this recipe.